Chatter From the Chair

 

By Connie Schmidt, Executive Chair, River Prairie Group

As the year ends, I feel some hope for our future.  (Yes, I know that Climate Change is still bearing down on us with disastrous consequences looming, but stay with me here.) After three years of lobbying, phone banking, text storms, town halls, rallies, letter and e-mail writing, Illinois now has the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. Governor Pritzker signed it into law on a beautiful sunny day at the Shedd Aquarium. Because equity and justice and the needs of marginalized communities are front and center with this bold legislation, it is a groundbreaking model for other states in the country.  As I write this, the governor, State Senate Chair Harmon, and Speaker of IL House Welch are all in Glasgow, Scotland, for the Climate Summit, representing this historic Illinois effort. Hope is on the horizon. 

In addition, I keep close tabs on the Forest Preserve of DuPage and attend their Tuesday meetings, writing a blog that is shared with various organizations across the county. In this newsletter you will read about the expansion plans for Willowbrook Wildlife Center, which is another national model, hosted here in DuPage. Another inspirational action of the Forest Preserve Commission is that each commission meeting begins with an invocation presented by Jeff Gahris. Jeff chooses from a myriad of sources and provides inspiration for the commissioners as decisions are being forged. Recently I learned that in December, the Forest Preserve Commission will present a Land Acknowledgment at the Churchill Woods Forest Preserve. A Land Acknowledgment recognizes the original people from a region where European settlers pushed them out, in an effort to heal past transgressions. Watch your news sources for this, and we will try to send a blast to your emails to share the event details. In addition, our Forest Preserves under the leadership of President Hebreard are expanding the use of solar panels for clean energy as they renovate and update their facilities. This will save taxpayer dollars as well as lessen the carbon footprint of the District. Hope is on the horizon.

Lastly, many of us have read of the Bell Bowl Prairie situation in Rockford. The Rockford Airport Authority expansion plans threatened to destroy a remnant prairie. With considerable public outcry, the plans are on hold until March, so watch for future actions you can take, but for now, hope is on the horizon.

As you can see from the photo, I have a new baby granddaughter. Her name is Žemyna, a Lithuanian name translating to “goddess of the earth.” When her three-year-old brother first saw her on FaceTime, he exclaimed, “Oh, Žemyna Bird” adding the second part without hesitation. The next generations inherit our world. The River Prairie Group will continue to work for you to have … Hope on our horizon. 

CEJA is Passed!

 By Connie Schmidt

After three long years of lobby efforts, phone banking, emailing, letter writing, calling legislators, we did it…CEJA is passed. Although it is not the Clean Energy Jobs Act, it IS the Climate and Equity Jobs Act, which speaks volumes to the priorities. 

The work of CEJA started with Listen Lead Share sessions across Illinois. CEJA is the culmination of what was envisioned and needed for all communities to have an equitable clean energy future. It gives closing dates to the polluting fossil fuel plants and prioritizes the communities most affected in offering clean jobs and boosting clean energy businesses in these regions.

Local Illinois State Legislators were supportive of the bill for the most part. Many thanks to Laura Ellman, Terra Costa Howard, Ann Stava Murray, Deb Conroy,  Janet Yang Rohr, Tom Cullerton, and Maura Hirschauer, to name a few. 

From Janet Yang Rohr’s local newsletter, this was the report to her constituents:

“Illinois recently enacted the nation’s most consequential climate and energy bill, which takes bold action to meaningfully address climate change. Because of its large impact, I’m dedicating this newsletter almost exclusively to covering this legislation. Some of the big areas of impact of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act include:

• Protecting the planet and public health
• Holding utilities accountable
• Expanding consumer protections
• Creating and protecting carbon-free jobs”

Celebrations for CEJA’s passage are circling the media airwaves. The United Nations Association-Greater Chicago Chapter recognized the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition last month because of their extraordinary leadership and efforts in supporting affordable clean energy. They received a Global Award.

In a statement, UNA-Chicago Vice President Amanda Espitia said, “ICJC’s unwavering enthusiasm and impact to further our global goals is something members of the United Nations Association Chicago Chapter commend and highlight, because it is testimony that when we put our efforts together, we have the power to help transform the world.”

Not only is Illinois leading the movement across the U.S. for a Clean Energy Future, Governor Pritzker, Senate leader Harmon, and House speaker Welch all attended the Glasgow Summit on Climate Change in November, highlighting what local governments can do to address climate change.

The Future is brighter, but members of Sierra Club will be watching as the rule-making and implementation process move forward, verifying that the intent is intact with this ambitious legislation.

Summary of our Autumn Programs

 By Connie Schmidt

Thanks to Jeff Gahris and his contacts and planning, the River Prairie Group held three fabulous programs this fall. All of them took place in person with a supplemental Zoom or Facebook live feature so folks at home could join as well. Thank heavens for technology, which is definitely extending our reach!

September - We had two speakers working together to give a view of Native American History of Glen Ellyn and Churchill Woods Forest Preserve and Beyond:

Kirk Burger, Assistant Director of the Glen Ellyn Historical Society, and Keith McClow, Heritage Experience Manager of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage.  It was a fascinating presentation on the original people of this community and a look into how many of us, as ancestors of European settlers, need to remember that history does not start with our encroachment on these lands. In fact, stay tuned to local news sources because on December 18 at 11:00 AM, Forest Preserve officials are planning a land acknowledgment ceremony in Churchill Woods to recognize this very concept. 

October - Trinity Pierce, Stewardship Manager for the Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Arboretum, presented: Urban Forest Stewardship: Native Tree Selection & Community Engagement.

Trinity shared an informative power point presentation, narrating it with helpful tips on selecting and caring for trees for urban and suburban landscapes. In addition, she had a plethora of literature for folks to take to help with planning landscapes for private yards. She also offered tips for how to actively volunteer in multiple ways for this effort, a perfect addition for folks who don’t have yards of their own to embellish.

November - Lastly, we hosted a local author, Pauline Gambill, who discussed her book The Fox Feats and Shark Tales of Pollution Fighter Jim Phillips and Animal Rights Warrior Steve Hindi. Pauline gave an informative talk on Jim Phillips (aka "The Fox") and Steve Hindi, sharing plenty of stories about their escapades and accomplishments. She had copies of her book for sale and autographed them.

Planned Improvements at Willowbrook Wildlife Center

 By Deb Humiston, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

 

DuPage Forest Preserve District officials are mulling construction of a net-zero 27,000-square-foot new wildlife rehabilitation clinic for Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn.

 “The goal is to right-size Willowbrook’s current operations and improve safety and efficiency for animals, staff, and volunteers,” said Kevin Horsfall, District planning manager. “The proposed plans will meet the needs of the current animal intake.”

Plans call for building a 27,000-square-foot wildlife rehabilitation clinic and visitor center with expanded naturalized outdoor and indoor rehabilitation areas and interactive learning exhibits that explain the wildlife rehabilitation process. Plans also include a welcome plaza, an outdoor classroom, an interpretive trail with wildlife observation areas, and outdoor activity spaces.

The improvements are needed so Willowbrook can remain a state-of-the-art wildlife rehabilitation facility and a national leader that not only engages visitors in veterinary science and medical care, but also demonstrates how to live in harmony with wildlife. 

“The District has operated Willowbrook since 1956, and the current clinic and visitor center were built 40 years ago in 1981,” said Anamari Dorgan, director of Community Engagement Services for the District.

“DuPage has grown by nearly 250,000 residents in the last four decades, and the impact of our human footprint directly impacts local wildlife. So, over the decades the center has seen a dramatic increase in the number of injured and orphaned animals it cares for,” Dorgan said.

The proposed center will follow best practices and move away from a zoo-like setting with animals in cages to a less stressful way for the public to see native wildlife in their natural settings. 

The project has received overwhelming support from the public, with 84.3% of respondents voicing support for the project. The District provided numerous opportunities for public input on the plan and received nearly 500 comments via survey responses, social media, the project website, email, and four public input meetings, Horsfall said.

“The facility will be transparent so the public can see the entire rehabilitation process from intake to release,” Horsfall said. “The public will be able to see animals as they’re being examined, undergoing surgical procedures, and being fed and rehabilitated through one-way glass and video-camera feeds.

“It will address the reality that not all animals can be saved, and the public wanted this story to be told,” he said. “It will also provide unique educational opportunities to create an awareness, to limit negative interactions with wildlife, and to help people understand when wildlife truly need our help. This will help mitigate and stabilize the number of animals brought to Willowbrook.”

The 65-year-old nationally recognized Willowbrook Wildlife Center provides care and medical treatment to injured and orphaned native wildlife in DuPage County and surrounding counties. Willowbrook is the largest rehabilitation center in Illinois and one of the largest centers in the U.S. based on caseload. During the pandemic in 2020, Willowbrook treated more than 9,000 patients; in 2019, it treated 9,669 patients.

Tentative Timeline for Project

Fall 2021 – Summer 2022: Design development and construction document preparation.

Spring/Summer 2022: Start construction of outdoor rehab phase I (raptors, carnivores, transitional rehabilitation).

Fall 2022: Complete outdoor rehab phase I and transfer outdoor residents to transitional rehab enclosures.

Winter 2023: Start construction on clinic and visitor center.

Summer 2024: Complete clinic and visitor center, move staff and indoor resident animals, demolish old clinic. Start outdoor rehab phase II. Soft opening.

Fall 2024: Complete outdoor rehab phase II (songbird, waterfowl, turtles, and aquatic mammal enclosures). Start renovation of species propagation building.

Early 2025: Complete renovation of species propagation building.

Spring 2025: Ribbon cutting and grand opening.

RPG Joins Forest Preserve in Lakes Research Project

By Bob Barbieri

In 2018 the River Prairie Group Water Monitoring Team met with Dan Grigas, Ecologist for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (FPDDC), and Shannon Burns, long-time Water Monitoring Team member and FPDDC staff, to discuss using Water Monitoring Team’s water-collecting and testing capabilities to help with a new research project. The research project involved collecting water samples from three lakes in the Forest Preserve District and analyzing them for four chemical compounds (phosphate, nitrate, ammonia, and chloride), temperature, and pH. The purpose of the research project was to determine if the forest preserve lakes are being impacted, and to what degree, by the same chemical compounds as those found in the streams and rivers of DuPage County.

Round Meadow Lake at Hidden Lake Forest Preserve.
Photo by Caroline Teter

The four chemical compounds pose the greatest threat to DuPage County’s watersheds, but it is worth noting that the first two are not toxins – in fact, they are just the opposite. Categorized as “nutrients,” phosphate and nitrate act as fertilizers that feed algae and aquatic plants, and in sufficient concentrations, fuel their overgrowth, suffocating fish and other river life. This can lead to harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can be toxic to people, pets, and wildlife. Ammonia, too, acts as a fertilizer, but in addition, it is highly toxic to aquatic organisms.

Herrick Lake. Photo by Lisa Warren.

The Forest Preserve Lakes Analysis project began in May 2019 and will be ongoing for the next few years. The lakes that are being sampled are Pickerel Lake in the Pratt’s Wayne Woods FP, Round Meadow Lake in the Hidden Lake FP, and Grove Lake in the Wood Dale Grove FP. Herrick Lake in the Herrick Lake FP was added to the list this August. The sampling and testing have been taking place in May, June, August, September, November, and December (as long as the lakes are not frozen over). These months were chosen so as to best fit into the ongoing monthly sampling and testing of the East and West Branches of the DuPage Rivers and the Salt Creek.

Sampling equipment at Round Meadow Lake. 

Photo by Caroline Teter.

Initial testing results are showing very low concentrations of the chemical compounds in the lake water samples. Additional information about the RPG Water Monitoring Project can be found in the 2020 Status Report on the Condition of the Salt Creek and the East and West Branches of the DuPage Rivers, found here.

A special thanks to our dedicated volunteer water collectors and testers for making this special research project possible.

Adding Some Zip to Solar Permitting

 By Jeff Gahris

Ask your local permitting officials this question: What if a permit to install solar panels on your home could be processed in one day, not 30? It would be a boost for the solar industry and be convenient for you, wouldn’t it?

It turns out the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), in conjunction with Underwriter Laboratories and other parties, have developed an app that would allow for fast, efficient, and effective permit reviews. SolarAPP+ should reduce cost, speed up solar installations, and provide for effective inspections by permitting authorities for enhanced safety. The plus sign, in case you are wondering, refers to the ability to add features to the app as time goes on.

The River Prairie Group and the DuPage Clean Energy Coalition recently sponsored a SolarAPP+ presentation by Anson Moran of the Illinois Solar Energy Association. The entire presentation is available on River Prairie Group’s YouTube channel.

According to NREL’s Solar APP webpage at https://solarapp.nrel.gov/,

“The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has launched a collaborative effort with key code officials, authorities having jurisdiction, and the solar industry to develop standardized plan review software that can run compliance checks and process building permit approvals for eligible rooftop solar systems.

• Integrates with existing government software
• Automated plan review, permit approval, and project tracking
• Standardizes up to 90% of standard system plans
• Inspection checklist verification and final sign-off after installation”

These are good reasons for each of us to contact our local permitting officials to streamline local permitting processes.

Why Art Matters to Monarchs

By Lonnie Morris

Each of the four organizations that make up the DuPage Monarch Project are contributing the essential resources of science, education, community organizing, and public art to the shared mission of protecting monarch butterflies and pollinators. All are important.  Science establishes a knowledge base for implementing and evaluating conservation measures; educators provide public officials with background information needed for effective policies; and community organizers bring people together for restoring and creating habitat. Art helps shape the cultural meanings within which conserving climate, land, and wildlife makes sense and is valued and pursued. 

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage, a DuPage Monarch Project partner, adapted to the pandemic’s impact by shifting its community engagement from in-person programs to innovative uses of videos and social media. A pollinator-themed art exhibit scheduled for Mayslake Peabody Estate in May 2020 became a virtual Facebook show in 2021. Some aspects were lost in the online format, like the co-mingling of artists and audience at an opening reception, but more importantly, it preserved the power of art to engage viewers on a critical environmental issue while other forums were unavailable.

Art is a force that both reveals and shapes cultural understandings of nature and the environment. Ellen Corr, Director of Art Partnerships for NRDC, has been engaging new audiences on environmental issues through visual art for the past decade. She uses art to tell the story of crises like climate change and pollinator decline in ways that inspire people to be part of the solution.

Corr’s first artistic collaboration in 2012 took on the issue of the degradation of the Chicago River with an installation by Maya Lin, a nationally recognized designer, sculptor, and environmental activist.  Reversing the Flow, Lin’s topographical map of the Chicago River made entirely of pins, brought attention to NRDC’s efforts to protect it from the dumping of raw sewage and the introduction of invasive species like Asian carp.

Two years later, Corr and artist Jenny Kendler tackled the issue of declining monarch habitat. Kendler designed a traveling food car with balloons filled with milkweed seeds for distribution at events in St Louis and other cities. Passersby were encouraged to take a balloon, popping it where monarch habitat could take root in a new location. The food cart’s message inspired Tom Weisner, then mayor of Aurora, Illinois, and known for his commitment to sustainability and green initiatives, to reach out to the Illinois Tollway Authority about their mowing practices. It was the beginning of rethinking the frequency and timing of mowing along the nearly 300 miles of the state’s roadways by taking into consideration the impact on monarch butterflies and pollinators.

Art makes a difference. Posting Pollinators in Action: Flowering Journeys on Facebook in the waning months of the pandemic made a significant contribution to the conversation about the plight of pollinators during a year when many Forest Preserve programs had been canceled.

The virtual exhibit received 26 submissions, many of which zeroed in on the essential relationship been pollinators and flowers. Close-up, intimate views of bees and butterflies on flowers showcased tiny creatures playing a starring role in the lives of plants and the animals and people relying on them for food. The connection between pollinators and people was implied, as people didn’t appear except in a portrait by Ann Grill of a beekeeper in full gear. The pollination service provided by honeybees is primarily a commercial enterprise owned and managed by people, different from most native species of bees whose life cycles are naturally intertwined with flowers. People have a complex and complicated relationship with pollinators, from raising honeybees to diminishing the availability of habitat for native species and exposing both to diseases and pesticides. Three works in the exhibit went beyond capturing bees, butterflies, and moths in their role as pollinators and offered viewers new ways of seeing and understanding their decline. 

Seeking - Sharon Gurley

A hand-cut paper piece by Sharon Gurley features a bee, butterfly, and hummingbird, each one positioned on a side of a white paper triangle set against a black background. The common origin for all of them from a single sheet of white paper subtly illustrates how several species share the same habitat and the importance of each occupying a separate niche. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds pollinate different flowers at different times of the day and year, yet all are necessary for a healthy eco-community, just as each is necessary to the composition of Seeking.

The choice of black and white allows the eye to focus on the finely carved minute details of this piece and the many precise cuts it required. The scale and intricacy of the design deserve the same close attention as watching busy pollinators at work, flitting from flower to flower throughout the day and into the night, collecting grains of pollen and depositing them on barely visible floral structures.

There is a stark reality about this piece, as though Gurley is boldly confronting a time when half of insect species have vanished. She has literally carved the pollinator out of its habitat, casting the ghostly white halfling into empty space, leaving its shadow behind. It is a vision of a time when bees and butterflies have vanished and only memories remain.

 Marbled-Green Leuconycta - Emma Bolton

There is still much for us to discover about the contribution moths are making to pollination. They work at night, unseen and unnoticed.  Mention moths and thoughts quickly turn to sweaters with holes, trees stripped of leaves, or critters showing up in the cupboard invading our food. The many small brown- and beige-colored species flying about in the dark simply fade into the background, vanishing from awareness, brought to mind only to take the blame when damage is discovered.

Moths have a PR problem that Emma Bolton aims to change by showing us their warm fuzzy side.

Bolton crafted a new image for the marbled-green leuconycta by sculpting a larger-than-life version from fabric. She reminds viewers that moths are beautiful through her choice of lichen green and pine-bark browns, evoking a forest’s peaceful serenity. The rounded softness of the fabric is the look of a cuddly stuffed animal, transforming the moth from being deplorable to adorable. Suddenly this marbled-green leuconycta needs a common name like prairie jasper that rolls off the tongue while conjuring an image of a precious stone. Curiosity is piqued to learn more about a creature with such a lovely name.

Little is known about the marbled-green leuconycta beyond its taste for common dandelions. It’s time to shine some light on the lesser-known pollinating activities of night-flying moths, such as the structure of the flowers they visit, whether the species they visit at night are also visited by daytime pollinators, and how pollen is being transferred. A full accounting of all current pollinator practices is essential, including the contributions made by moths, before too many species are lost and a cascade of extinctions follows.

Bees to Flowers - Kirk Kerndl

In the description of his oil painting titled Bees to Flowers, Kirk Kerndl wrote, “I want people to look at my work and have it captivate them so they…think about it.”  This thoughtful painting does exactly that.

The first moments of looking at Kerndl’s painting are spent sorting out its seemingly disparate elements. There are three bees hovering around a painting of a flower stuck to a plain, slightly mottled background by two strips of tape. The composition is austere, a generous space sparsely occupied by a few elements, leaving the viewer to figure out the story connecting three bees, a paper flower, and tape.

The bees in the painting appear frozen, suspended in air without context, with no hint of where they came from or where they’re going. Habitat is absent, there’s no nectar, no pollen to sustain them, only a paper flower, an illusion of sustenance held in place by band-aid colored tape. The painting is a depiction of what’s missing, of absence and loss.

The similarity of the tape to band-aids implies a need for healing but also sends a warning to find a lasting solution for the injury, not a quick temporary fix. Paper flowers aren’t the solution, and it’s up to us to find a genuine one.

More habitat, less pesticide, and a stable climate are the solutions to pollinator decline, but they require people who care. Pollinators in Action: Flowering Journeys reveals the beauty, diversity, and enormity of what is being lost, leaving viewers with a medley of feelings: delight, sadness, and hope for a future where people and pollinators can thrive together.

***

Steve Ornberg is an amateur photographer located in Naperville, Illinois. He enjoys nature photography including wildlife, landscape, and macro/closeup subjects. He spent his professional career traveling around the world as a software project manager, which provided great opportunities to get back into photography. He is now retired, which provides more time to enjoy nature photography. Steve is also the former President of the Mayslake Nature Study and Photography Club, a position he held for five years, and he is currently the webmaster. The Club helps photographers to learn more about nature and improve their nature photography.

Sharon Gurley is a life-long resident of DuPage County with a strong affinity for nature. Her preferred mediums are paper and ink, often limiting her palette to black and white.

Emma Bolton is an artist based in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago who enjoys creating in every way imaginable. She primarily works with fabric, creating both two-dimensional and sculptural pieces.

Kirk Kerndl is a realist oil painter and sculptor from Lombard, Illinois. He draws inspiration from the tranquility of the Midwestern landscape and finds beauty in ordinary things. Kerndl is drawn to capturing light, stillness, and isolation in his paintings. He finds the understated calmness of his work provides a counterbalance to the chaos of everyday life.

Princeton Rallies to Help Pollinators

By Lonnie Morris

Nearly all conversations about monarchs these days eventually touch upon the familiar battle cry for the butterfly’s recovery, “plant milkweed and nectar plants.” Pollinators are in need of healthy, pesticide-free habitat, and there are many ways and places for getting it into the ground. One woman in Princeton, Illinois, opted to take the message to her community and involve them in the solution. 

Ellen Starr moved to Princeton in 2013, primed and ready to dive into a project to help pollinators recover from alarming declines. The eastern monarch butterfly population had been in free fall for the past two decades, and in a few years, the rusty-patched bumblebee would be declared endangered.  Now was the time to act. These were problems her 15 years as a biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), US Department of Agriculture, had prepared her to tackle, and Princeton was the right place at the right time for launching a high-profile pollinator demonstration garden. Starr saw the garden as the first step in realizing her vision of creating a pollinator-friendly community.

Emily Dickinson famously wrote that a prairie needed clover, a bee and reverie (“To make a prairie,” 1755). Less poetically but more practically, a modern-day pollinator garden needs land, a plan, plants, and people, all of which came together in Princeton. 

Pollinator gardens are made from the ground up. The type of soil, annual rainfall, and daily hours of sun govern the choice of flowers, grasses, and shrubs that in turn determine the colors, shapes, and textures available to the designer.

Vicki Morrical, a landscape architect with NRCS, blended the various components required for a pollinator garden to form a plan that included the plants suitable for the site in a combination of native species with high-value pollen and nectar blooming throughout three seasons, larval host plants for butterflies, and areas for both ground- and cavity-nesting bees.  

“Landscape architecture is a planning profession,” Morrical explained.  “We work to accommodate the multiple functions of a project in an appealing way that is compatible with the surrounding landscape.” 

It was a year of planning, organizing, and securing donations before plants could go into the ground. During that year, local officials and businesses rallied in support of the project. A site for the garden was found; the local and state chapters of Pheasants Forever each donated $500; Bureau County Soil and Water Conservation District agreed to sell plants to the project at cost; Prairie Nursery and Landscaping cut sod and rototilled the site, donated flagstone for a walkway, and provided mulch after the plants were installed; the city added a spigot to a fire hydrant for watering; Hornbaker Gardens donated a redbud tree and brought out hoses and sprinklers for watering the plants. When everything was ready, thirteen volunteers showed up to plant the 700 flowers and shrubs that make up the garden.

 

 “It was like magic the way it came together,” said Starr. It was the magic of a vision connecting with an enthusiastic, supportive community.

Enthusiasm for the routine maintenance waned after a few years. Again, the community stepped up. Several master gardeners have volunteered to do the regular weeding and trimming to keep the garden tidy.

 

Garden volunteers l to r: Gay, Marcie, and Greg

The pollinator garden is a generous 2,400 square feet and clearly a beautiful space designed for the enjoyment of people and the health of pollinators. In June 2021, the edges were neatly trimmed and the plants were a modest height and pleasingly spaced. A stone path lined with airy white patches of beardtongue beckons visitors to enter and explore. A five-foot mound of pink roses humming with bumblebees was proof the garden was meeting its intended purpose.

The garden rises out of a large area of mown turf adjacent to the public library and is a visual extension of the library’s mostly native-plant landscaping. Islands in the parking lot are planted with prairie clover, butterfly weed, and prairie dropseed; serviceberry trees rise from flowing rivers of grass in a memorial sculpture garden, and a low-growing bank of junipers running along an expanse of windows is dotted with common milkweed. 

The high-profile location by the library creates opportunities for educational outreach. The garden is visible to library patrons, and a large eye-catching sign signals something interesting is happening here, inviting passersby to come check it out! Every encounter with a thriving, lively community of pollinators, no matter how casual, is a moment for gaining an appreciation for their marvelous diversity and a greater understanding of the essential services they are contributing.

 

 A habitat garden built by a community is a way of returning land to butterflies and bees while creating an attractive civic amenity. It’s a place for seeing year-round wildlife and catching a glimpse of migrating visitors like monarchs, painted ladies, dragonflies, and the many birds passing through looking to refuel for their journey.

Starr’s vision of a pollinator-friendly community is shared by Ray Mabry, a former city councilman and local realtor. Mabry, a councilman when Starr proposed the demonstration garden, had a ringside seat for following the project’s progress from start to finish. He recognized the benefits for pollinators and was convinced that when created thoughtfully as Starr had done, pollinator gardens are attractive landscaping and add value to a residential property, neighborhood, and community. 

This year, Mabry is landscaping a vacant lot he acquired in downtown Princeton to transform into pollinator habitat. He is giving it what he describes as “the Mabry look,” sculpted with berms and a hardscape of stone from Wisconsin. Plants will be added this summer as weather permits.

Starr enlisted the support of elected officials, businesses, and residents in planning and planting the garden. Awareness of the plight of pollinators spread throughout the community along with knowledge of the solution. The Princeton Pollinator Garden is a link between the residents of Princeton and the natural world.  It is their interdependence made visible.

Photos by Connie Schmidt

Connie Schmidt Receives Sierra Club’s 2020 Volunteer Service Award

By Linda Sullivan,

This summer River Prairie Group’s own Connie Schmidt was honored with Sierra Club’s 2020 Volunteer Service Award for “strong and consistent commitment to the environment or club over an extended period of time.”

Connie in center

In many ways a parallel honor for Schmidt, chair of both RPG and the Illinois Chapter, is the way, once the idea of nominating her for this award began circulating, letters of support began pouring in from all over the state.

In her nominating letter, Kady McFadden, Illinois Chapter Deputy Director, said, “The name Connie Schmidt feels wholly synonymous with the fibers and strengths of the Illinois Chapter. As a Sierra Club volunteer leader for the past twenty years and Illinois Chapter Chair over the past four years, there is no part of the Chapter that Connie has not helped to make stronger. Connie is the kind of leader where you’re left wondering how she can be everywhere at once, and always with a warm smile on her face. She shows up as her whole loving, energetic, joyful self in this work, while always pushing us to be even higher achieving.”

Connie was part of a group celebrating the retirement
of Sierra Club staffer Cindy Skrukrud

From far Carbondale, Jane Cogie contributed this personal story: “I first got to know Connie Schmidt soon after she had become Chair of the Executive Committee for Sierra Club Illinois Chapter. The qualities and abilities that have made her exceptional in this position became apparent very quickly. An early example for me personally was at breakfast the morning of one of my first Environmental Lobby Days in Springfield. Despite other choices on which table to join, she sat down next to me, introduced herself, and soon had me sharing news of my interests and ongoing projects. Particularly because at that time I was relatively new to lobbying, her support added to my sense of purpose, of being part of group committed to working together to make a difference.”

Connie with State Sen. Laura Ellman (3rd from right, back row) 

As Illinois Chapter Chair, Schmidt set a new standard of excellence and engagement that her successors will find hard to match. She has traveled to events all over the state to let local groups know that the Illinois Chapter has their back. She has led the Chapter in the direction of inclusiveness and outreach as no other chair has done. She manages both to keep control of Chapter meetings and somehow also be kind and gracious to every participant. Most importantly, she has been equally willing to take leadership on so many projects and also be the worker bee on other people’s projects. 

Connie with Rep. Sean Casten (2nd from left)

RPG members will remember her not-to-be-missed fundraisers for the Illinois Chapter Political Action Committee that she did long before she was involved at Chapter level.  They were in her Warrenville backyard where she keeps horses and chickens. She called it Party on the Farm. Bands that she knew provided music. Her husband, Mike, always sang. Everyone in the Chapter looked forward to these parties. It was so typical of her generous spirit that the money raised was given to the Chapter PAC, not her home group! One year the proceeds went to a committee in Heart of Illinois Group that was working on mining issues.

Schmidt joined the Chapter Lobby Team in 2006, its second year in existence, and has been an absolutely reliable member ever since, not only meeting consistently with her state legislators every year but organizing the other constituents in her district. Recently her state representative said to McFadden, “Tell Connie I’m doing a good job,” illustrating the strength and importance of the relationships she has built.

Connie with Lauren Underwood (2nd from left)

Schmidt always responds to requests to sit in on political endorsement interviews. She has consistently participated on Sierra Club and River Prairie Group phone banks and canvasses.  Even during the 2020 election when COVID restrictions put a damper on enthusiasm and what we were allowed to do, she showed up consistently, whether it was for her own legislators or outside the district, always bringing her joy and optimism to the after-phone bank circle-up conversation on Zoom. So hard to do!

She has been the long-time RPG liaison to the DuPage Forest Preserve Commission. She has continued in this role, attending their meetings and faithfully writing a Forest Preserve report, even as she has taken on the roles of Chapter Chair and Group Chair. The result of her long-time engagement with the forest preserve district is that both the forest preserve staff and elected forest preserve officials consult with the Sierra Club and trust the Sierra Club as a partner to overcome anti-science, anti-wildlife thinking in the county.

In 2015 the River Prairie Group launched the DuPage Monarch Project, a collaborative effort that was joined by the Forest preserve District and other conservation groups, such as the Conservation Foundation. Mayors and park district boards were asked to sign a resolution in support of DMP, take action to increase available habitat, and increase awareness of the plight of pollinators through outreach to residents.

Lonnie Morris, the originator and driving force behind the DMP, wrote this about Connie’s participation in DuPage Monarch Project:

“Connie was supportive of DMP from its inception. She volunteered to be the River Prairie Group’s representative, actively participated in meetings, was involved with planning events, regularly engaged in social media outreach, and most importantly brought her considerable skills to the task of meeting with mayors and park district boards to present DMP’s vision.

“In its sixth year, DMP has a total of 25 signatories: 13 cities, 11 park districts, and the county, and 5 associate members. Connie has been instrumental in bringing the majority of these into the Project. A positive outlook, natural warmth, and persuasiveness combined with diligence, follow-through, and an impressive capacity for contributing time and energy to worthy initiatives are rarely found in one individual.” 

She and volunteer leaders from other environmental organizations established the DuPage Clean Energy Coalition, which has been instrumental in ensuring that legislators in their area stay strong on environmental issues. More than 40 individuals are active with this group, and they’ve held numerous public events. In addition, she has built relationships with the NAACP of DuPage County and was invited to join their board in the process, and this relationship has helped us make connections with local NAACP groups across the state. 

Connie became Vice Chair of the River Prairie Group in 2009 and became RPG chair in 2013, a role she kept until she took the position of Illinois Chapter chair. Even after taking on the demanding role of Chapter Chair, she stayed involved with the group, becoming RPG vice chair. When her successor, Jeff Gahris, stepped down as chair because of his election to the DuPage Forest Preserve Commission (Hooray!), Connie stepped up once again to become RPG Chairwoman.

Currently Connie is both the RPG and Chapter chair, doing her always fantastic job.

Two Volunteers Reflect

I asked two people to submit short pieces about getting involved in the Sierra Club as we plan to return to in-person meetings, and hear is what they said. – Jeff Gahris

From Janice Dugan... "The Post (?) Pandemic Blues" 

I was quite excited at the end of the pandemic when restaurants opened more fully, as did movie theaters, museums, and so on. And yet much of my world remained the same; my volunteer work has not resumed, theater plans are finally there but a bit of a wait until an actual in-person play, and gatherings still happen via Zoom. However, I have returned to the gym and a few dinners out.

Then I think, what will get me out of this funk? So, I go to the forest preserve and feel an immediate sense of calm and excitement simultaneously. Calm in that being in nature is always renewing.  And excited by the lushness around me, including little wildflowers. Today I saw a fawn! She and I sized each other up and then went on our way. I return home with plans to reach out and seek out. I will make calls for CEJA and continue to be involved with the Prairie Food Co-op as it strives for a brick-and-mortar store in Lombard. I hope to see others and connect at future walks or tours. Ahhh, I feel better now!

From Christine Patterson ...

I became actively involved with Sierra Club because environmental activism is where I see my legacy to preserve, protect, and restore the balance of our natural world. For many, including me, there is also a spiritual aspect to environmental advocacy and stewardship. When I reflect on why I am called to this work, I think of vacations in the great woods of northern Wisconsin, the pristine spring-fed lakes in the area, the tasty fish caught out of sparkling clean water, and the diversity and charm of the wildlife. I also reflect on the Great Lakes and our seas: places to experience swimming, tides, boating, scuba diving, and the beauty of awesome aquatic plants and animals living there. And sometimes you can even find treasure like I did! 

During the recent 2020-21 Illinois legislative year, I was asked to be a speaker in lobbying our state representatives via Zoom. In preparation for Lobby Day, I attended a number of presentations to learn about environmental issues and the top Sierra Club priorities for our state. This brought me a deeper awareness and understanding of the issues, and I felt more prepared to “talk the talk” on Lobby Day. I met new, like-minded people and found out how interesting and dedicated they are. My specific effort is to get environmental advocates elected at all levels of government. Through Sierra Club, I have learned first-hand how elections and environmental activism are critically linked together for a better present and future earth. 

RPG Leads With a Provisional Outing

Ed Max, one of the many leaders of RPG Outings committee, organized a provisional outing --- complete with mountains of paperwork to meet our COVID safty protocils --- to get folks out into nature’s beauty this spring. 

By Ed Max

What a time it has been ... waiting for the pandemic to ease just enough to get a hike together at Bluff Spring Fen ... one of the first in Illinois. The annual fen hike never disappoints. What it lacks in acreage, it makes up for in diversity with over 450 species of plants (and counting), plus quite an array of birds and insects, including dragonflies. Mike Davis, our resident geologist, did a fine job explaining the kames and glacial history of this place. Thanks, Mike! It was great seeing many familiar faces on that warm sunny day.

Photo by Ed Max

As COVID restrictions loosen up, Sierra Club will be adapting. Our outings team will be meeting to schedule events to get us back out into the wild spaces around DuPage and beyond. Keep an eye on the calendar for future day and weekend outings this summer and into fall. Hope to see you on a hike soon.

Photo by Ed Max

A Threat to the Treasured Wolf Road Prairie

 By Connie Schmidt

Wolf Road Prairie is the largest and highest-quality remnant tallgrass prairie east of the Mississippi River, representing a part of the .01% of these landscapes, which survived American settlement in Illinois. This ecosystem supports one of the densest and most diverse ecological communities in the temperate world. In 1988, the IDNR designated this unique 55-acre site an Illinois Nature Preserve. Because it is surrounded by development, it remains in grave danger of degradation over time. 

 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

As home for countless species, these ecological communities clean the air, manage storm water, prevent flooding and erosion, store and create nutrients, and sequester carbon. Wolf Road Prairie also mitigates pollution from 31st Street and the closed landfill to the west, and filters a watershed four times its size. Development of any of these endangered ecosystems would destroy their services to the public, degrade Wolf Road Prairie’s wetlands, and diminish overall biodiversity. In the future, it will be the public who pays the price of this destruction.

 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

This spring, the nonprofit Save the Prairie Society and community group Save our Oak Savanna learned of a plan for construction of a new, 180-unit rental development on a 15-acre parcel of land at Hickory Lane and 31st Street in Westchester, Illinois. This land is part of an endangered oak savanna ecosystem that protects the world-famous Wolf Road Prairie, and provides valuable services to the village, the watershed, and local biodiversity. Fortunately, in late July, the city of Westchester turned down the permit request for this development, but it is vital that this land be turned over to the Forest Preserves of Cook County and designated as nature preserve.

 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

Leaders and volunteers from RPG and IL Chapter Sierra Club continue to work with the Save the Prairie Society in an effort to preserve Wolf Road Prairie and Hickory Lane. Just as a healthy buffer zone is necessary to a healthy ecosystem, a healthy ecosystem is necessary to a healthy civilization. Watch for further information to help the Save the Prairie Society secure this 15-acre parcel, along with the rest of the Hickory Lane subdivision, as part of the Wolf Road Prairie Nature Preserve, so that our society may enjoy the benefits of green infrastructure and the heritage of remnant natural landscapes for generations to come. 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

Spring Brook Creek and Wetland Restoration at Blackwell Forest Preserve – Update

Editor’s Note: Over the past few months there have been some questions in the local newspapers about the restoration project in Blackwell Forest Preserve involving Springbrook Creek. Admittedly, a construction project of any kind looks grim before the beauty unfolds, so we invited the Forest Preserve District of DuPage to share an update with our readers about this science-based restoration project. Enjoy.

During the last week of June 2021, 4" of rain filled the stream to its 

brim. Black-eyed susan (Rubeckia hirta), first sown in 2020, stabilize

 the soil and provide erosion control. Photo: Scott Meister, June 2021.

By Scott Meister, Forest Preserve District of DuPage

In fall 2020, earth-moving activity at Blackwell Forest Preserve’s stream restoration project was completed. A new 5,500-foot-long stream channel with meanders, shallow riffles, and deep pools now provides diverse habitat for many species. The removal of a dam coupled with a gradual elevation grade within the stream now make it possible for fish to swim unobstructed into areas upstream. In addition to stream restoration, 22 new acres of wetlands were created.

Spotted sandpipers quickly occuppied the restored floodplain
along Sping Brook #1 at Blackwell. Photo: Scott Meister, July 2021

While physical construction was completed at the site, restoration of the vegetative community is ongoing. From May through July 2021, over 60,000 plugs (individual plants) were planted at the site. This quantity is in addition to the 30,000 plugs installed in 2020 at the project site. These native species will “sleep, creep, and leap” in the first, second, and third years after planting. Native plants use energy to build healthy root systems in their first years, and above-ground growth may be minimal. During this time, annual and non-native species try to establish themselves, and staff is busy keeping these unwanted species at bay. Two hundred trees and shrubs still need to be planted, and this coming fall, more native seed will be sown.

A male widow skimmer is one of the many dragonflies to colonize
the new wetlands created at Blackwell Forest Preserve.
Photo: Scott Meister, July 2021

Spring Brook originates in Wheaton, and the new stream channel was designed to accommodate water flow we commonly see in this developed watershed. During the last week of June 2021, four inches of rain fell at Blackwell Forest Preserve, testing the capacity and strength of the newly built stream. If areas within the floodplain are not vegetated or armored with rock, erosion can occur. During the storms, water within the stream slowly rose and spilled into the adjacent wetlands and floodplain. As storm waters receded, it was evident the stream and surrounding floodplain performed as designed. No erosion was apparent.

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and blue vervain
(Verbena hastata) are thriving in the restored flooplain along
Spring Brook No. 1. Photo: Scott Meister, July 2021

To accomplish this project, the Forest Preserve District received permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DuPage County’s Stormwater Management Department. Conditions of these permits require the Forest Preserve District to maintain the site at a high level ecologically. Thus, for the next five years, vegetation surveys will be conducted annually along with fish, freshwater mussel, and macroinvertebrate surveys. The diverse plant and animal communities at the newly restored site are already evident. Dragonfly and damselfly populations are abundant at the new wetlands, toads and frogs sang out in chorus in the spring, and egrets, herons, and kingfishers are regular hunters in the stream. If you haven’t visited the project site, south of Mack Road and north of the landfill, take a walk along the new higher-and-drier regional trail and enjoy the sights and sounds of a healthy wetland ecosystem.